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10.05.2011

Pinterest Fail Kitchen

My friend Jess is having a Pinterest Test Kitchen Link Up once a month to motivate people to actually MAKE the things that they pin.

I knew I had to participate because I have pinned tons of things & have made.....ZERO.Until this week that is.

So, when the weather was rainy & cold this week, it was the perfect opportunity for the girls and I to bake some things that I had pinned.My girls love helping me in the kitchen and it is a perfect rainy day activity. Side note: Kate can crack an egg better than I can.

I gave the girls a few choices of what we could make.They decided on these pumpkin donuts from my desserts pinboard.

Here is what the picture on Pinterest looked like:Don't they look delicious? I was SO excited to make them.I was thinking it would be a perfect Fall snack to bring to the pumpkin patch.Well, those hopes and dreams quickly faded as we made them.Here is what ours looked like:The VERDICT?FAIL.The dough was so thick, and it wouldn't pipe into circles (donuts) like the recipe said.I decided to make them into donut holes.They didn't turn out like donut holes, more like donut blobs.And, they didn't taste like donut holes AT ALL. Not even close.The flavor was decent, I mean they are dipped in butter & cinnamon sugar, so of course it tasted okay, but the texture was off. It was like a pumpkin cookie.The recipe also says you can use a donut maker instead of the oven, but I don't have a donut maker & there is no way I am going to buy one.

Will I make these again?NO. Not worth the hassle (or the calories).The recipe called for SO many ingredients, which are now wasted.I was about to trash them, but my friend's 7 year old son was over today & he loved them.So, that is the silver lining on the Donut Blobs.

I was bummed they didn't turn out, so we decided to make another recipe.Since the girls picked the last one, I picked this one.It is the "famous" 2 ingredient pumpkin muffins.You take a box of cake mix & a can of pumpkin, mix it together & viola! You have muffins.I was feeling hopeful about these, I mean I couldn't have TWO Pinterest Fails in one day...right?The original "pin" called for yellow cake mix, but I decided to use Spice Cake mix so that it would have more flavor.Our neighbors yellow lab passed away earlier that day, so I was going to bring them these pumpkin muffins as an attempt to cheer them up & to let them know we are thinking of them.I was feeling optimistic about these muffins & even sprinkled some powdered sugar on the top of them. Don't they look pretty?Good thing I tasted one before I brought them over because they were N-A-S-T-Y.I had my girls try them and they both took one bite and said Ewww. Gross.Needless to say, I did not bring them to my neighbors.Imagine if I brought them nasty muffins the day their dog passed away.Nothing like kicking you while you are down."Sorry your dog died, here are some nasty muffins"I ditched the muffins & brought them over a bottle of wine instead :)

If a recipe only has 2 ingredients, then it really is "too good to be true".There is a reason most things we make have more than 2 ingredients....because it needs more FLAVOR! I can't imagine what they would have tasted like if I hadn't used Spice Cake mix.Even more flavor-less. And, they had a funky texture. No bueno.

The VERDICT?ANOTHER FAIL.(Better than the donut blobs, but still a Fail)

Will I make these again?NEGATORY GHOST RIDER.If I want pumpkin muffins, I will make my pumpkin bread recipe, but bake them as muffins.I asked Kate if she wanted a muffin today & her response?"Don't make me try those muffins again"

So, my first round of Pinterest Test Kitchen has become Pinterest FAIL Kitchen.Here are the lessons I have learned:1. Just because something on Pinterest looks pretty, doesn't mean it tastes good. Looks can be deceiving. Very, very deceiving.2. If you decide to make something you have seen on Pinterest, go to the original website to where it was pinned & read the readers comments on the post. See if any of the comments say that they actually made the item & it was good. If there are a lot of comments that say, that LOOKS good, beware & refer to Lesson #1 above.

I will not be discouraged after my 2 Epic Pinterest Recipe Fails.I am annoyed that I wasted 2 cans of precious pumpkin, but I won't let stop me from trying another Pinterest recipe!I guess this just means I need to spend MORE time on Pinterest finding more recipes!Have you had more Pinterest Fails or Successes?Inquiring minds (me) want to know!So far, I am 0 for 2.

oh my goodness, the 1 can of pumpkin + 1 box of spice cake mix is like my all-time *favorite* thing about fall! i have a batch constantly baked, because i want to eat one [or two] every single day! i'm so sad you didn't like them! i do add a crumble to the top = melted butter, brown sugar, oats... mix that together and plop a little bit on top of each muffin before baking. maybe that's the secret? i have a feeling you've already given up, but since they're so easy, you might try adding the crumbly top to see if that changes your mind? hope so! :)

I definitely need to start making some of the recipes I'm pinning, but I seem to have the same problem as you. Not only do the ones I try NEVER look like the picture, but they always leave me disappointed with the flavor too.

I make the can pumpkin and cake mix bread all the time. I do not make them into muffins and I use carrot cake mix and add chocolate chips....please give them one more try. Try making it into bread you may like it;)

This is my first (and only) attempt to make something from Pinterest. They turned out to be SO good. And they were easy. I made the muffin part of the recipe again which was even easier because I didn't have to assemble the muffins. Try these for pumpkin muffins. Delicious!

I found a Pumpkin recipe on Pinterest that I made this last weekend. It was soooo yummy! It was the Pumpkin Dump Cake and I also posted it on my Menu last week on my blog if you can't find it in my Pins.

Most of the recipes I have tried off of Pinterest have been pretty good. I did have a friend try to make something and she too ended up throwing it away. You have some very good advice!! Hope that your next attempts yield better results.

gooood post! I am sorry the two things you made were GROSS! keep trying. so far I have tried to take my pinterest finds and move them from a "recipes to try" board to either a "good recipe" board or delete after I make them!! So far I think I am 2 good, 1 disgusting! not bad!

I always make those pumpkin muffins and they are a raving success among my family and friends. One thing you should know about that recipe is that it is a 'diet' recipe. It started out as a way to eat muffins without the fat or eggs and oil. Keep that in mind when you eat them. Also, I have been known to add cinnamon chips and extra ground cinnamon to mine. No longer as healthy, but super delicious. (I have always used a spice cake mix too)

I have made a TON of recipes I've pinned! Actually, chicken piccata just last night. :) And we were going to make pumpkin cream cheese muffins but discovered we were out of cupcake liners and Walgreens didn't have any-- so we made your pumpkin bread instead. :D I always move the pins from "Edible" to "Eaten" with notes about the recipe after I make it. Chalk it up to my lazy meal planning...

I knew I wasn't missing any thing on Pinesville. Why not just got to all recipes or food network or something? Lost of reviews to check out. Follow the stars...That being said, you just keep surfing and pinning and baking and when something tastes good bring it on over. After Thanksgiving :)And can you make me one of those fancy wreaths too? Thanks.

I make those pumpkin muffins all the time this time of year!!! In fact, I just got all my supplies yesterday. Sad you didn't like them. Like others have said, I also add chocolate chips and sometimes a little bit of water or applesauce. It helps the texture. You definitely have to realize that the texture is not going to be like normal muffins. My kids love them too! I have made several things off my pinterest board and have loved almost everything I've tried (most of them have been crock pot recipes or casseroles)!

I actually just finished a blog about making those muffins and how much we all loved them. Of course, I put some cream cheese icing in them, so that helps. But I have to say, I do like them without. Different strokes, I guess. ;)

No Pinterest fails for me, yet. But I just started too. I have had a few Allrecipe fails.

Currently in the crockpot is the Chicken chili pinned from a friends board that came from your site. I will let you know how it goes. Wink, wink. I am disappointed that the donuts and pumpkin muffins didn't come out. I know that I have those donuts pinned. Bummer. Love your friends idea about actually making what we've pinned.

We also adore the two ingredient muffins. Sometimes I add an egg. Maybe you'd like that better. Without the egg they are very thick and kinda doughy but the egg makes them more like a bread. We also add chocolate sometimes, but it's not a "have to". I think you should definitely try again ;)

This was a hoot! "Donut blobs" LOL! I've tried one thing I pinned on Pinterest (and I have over 1000 pins!!!). It was a recipe for the no bake-chocolate-peanut butter-oatmeal cookies. They were perfect. This link up is great motivation for tryinig pins instead of hoarding them ;)

Love this post! I also started a board on Pinterest to re-pin the recipes I made with my comments. Most of mine have been pretty successful, but I haven't made a ton of things. :) Here is my "Made It" board - http://pinterest.com/amy_michelle/recipes-i-made/

OKAY-- maybe you read my friend Heidi's post about the Two Ingredient Pumpkin Muffins already, but I tried making them last night with the two ingredients she added and they are AWESOME! So moist and delicious!!!

The trick is to add 1/3 c. of oil and a tsp. of pumpkin pie spice. Try them again. I promise, you will be so happy you did.

I am so sorry these didn't turn out right for you! I just know the donuts would do the same for me hahahaha. ^.^ But I have made a pumpkin cake with that one recipe and added apple cider drizzle to the top. It was really delicious! We ate it up last Thanksgiving. I also tried it with just confectioners sugar on top and it was not-so-good, I figured it didn't have enough flavor.